A perfect example of the immorality that exist for profit. Nearly every one with functioning intelligence knew the ills of smoking while we were being fed this crap, including HC professionals. The rest were in denial, hooked or making money off it.
It was amazing when I came back from Nam and living in the bible belt and tobacco row. Morality was thrown out the window in favor of PROFIT. Back then Tobacco farming was very lucrative. From a business point of viewâŠMoney has ALWAYS out trumped morality.
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Is it that different today? Only the names and causes have been changed but the greed lives on.
Is it that different today?
Itâs probably worse.
Kids used to swallow rocks too. I donât think its a good idea.
Its very possible these old guys did what the older kids told them to do.
I was told people used to swallow a teaspoon of kerosene to stop coughing.
Its possible the âTarâ was actually chewing tobacco that comes in"cakes" It looks and has the consistancy of tar.
I am 86 years old. I used to chew tar, fresh from a big chunk near the working street crew. So stop doubting already. It was done. Kids did not even have a nickel for a pack oâ chewing gum; I mean, where would they get it?
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My dad was 21 when Ford introduced the V-8 and he recalled some people arguing over how the tilted pistons would cause the cylinder walls and pistons to wear faster at the bottom due to the weight of the pistons while others argued that the bottoms would wear slower due to the oil collecting there.
But as dumb as that sounds even the totally illiterate people of that time were able to start and drive the cars when todayâs ârocket scientistsâ get aggravated attempting to start a late model car if the IAC valve isnât working correctly or drive if the automatic parking brake release fails to function.
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Someone joined about 1 hour ago to revive an 8 year old thread to talk about chewing road tar. And I thought I got bored at times.
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I donât know how I missed this post 8 years ago. I occasionally chewed road tar as a kid. It was what was melted to mix with gravel to pave roads. It would break and have a shiny surface if you bent it fast enough. It was faintly sweet like licorice and not unpleasant to chew. You didnât swallow irt;
My father in law said every boy in his neighborhood did it.
I am older than the men overheard in conversation, I remember when there were no television stations. And when we first got TV there was only one station, and it started programing with a test pattern at 3:45 pm so you could adjust your set and went off the air at 11:30 pm.
People were kind of forced to buy TVs when the prime time radio programs started going off the air because all the sponsors wanted to be in the new medium.
ow I feel young, we used to melt lead and pour it into a mold for soldiers to play with, bite lead shot sinkers for the fishing line and be glad when the truck sprayed dioxin on the dirt road to control dust.
Ok, if weâre gonna talk about things we chewed as kids, put me down for trying to chew on pine tree pitch during a scouting camp trip ⊠lol ⊠itâs downright chewy, got that going for it, but tastes like turpentine, not recommended.
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Chewing road tar was common back in the 50s. I did it. Lots of kids did. Itâs not a joke.
Iâm sure the âold gentsâ were telling the truth. My friends and I would chew road tar when we were 5-7 years old. The fresher the better, as it was still warm then. Iâm 70, so at this point, it hasnât killed me. 
Not to continue this but the book I just read referred to kids back in the 40âs being sent to road work sites if they were at risk of contracting tuberculosis. I donât know if it was the fumes from the tar or the eating tar that the parents expected to ward off TB with but was something I hadnât heard before. Of course back then and early 50âs, parents were doing all kinds of stuff to keep their kids safe from polio etc. Sometimes there is some scientific basis for old wiveâs tales though so who knows?
Spruce sap isnât too bad. Really bitter at first, and it breaks into tiny little pieces until it warms up, but then itâs got a fresh, piney taste thatâs kinda nice. Used to chew it sometimes growing up when I was out of store-gum.
Of course, those of us who are not kids and who have had dental work canât chew it anymore, because itâs sticky enough that itâll pull any fillings out.
So much of the medical advice from The Good Old Days was apparently based on something other than scientific evidence. If you ever read a biography of Teddy Roosevelt, you probably recall the family doctorâs advice for treating young Teddyâs severe asthma. Send him to bed with a good strong cigar!
Even if someone doesnât wind up immolating himself by smoking in bed, how could smoking a cigar possibly relieve asthmatic symptomsâespecially in a young child?
Iâm the same age as those two guys. A few years ago I picked up a wonderful little book called âThe good old days, they were really rottenâ. I donât remember tar chewing, but I do remember some sort of black chewing gum that looked like tar, and I also remember some sort of âtooth powderâ instead of toothpaste.
I remember the Jack Sprat store used to have that black gum. Canât remember if it had another name or was just Jack Sprat gum. It was pretty good actually. Jack Sprat was about a block away from the Piggly Wiggly store. I guess they are still going down south. but went the way of National T here.
Edit: I think it was called âBlack Jackâ gum. Try that a few times fast. Black Jack gum at the Jack Sprat store.
We didnât have any of those stores in Brooklyn, but we had the Dodgers.
I had never heard of chewing tar but just the other day I read a memoir written in 1968 by an elderly woman. She did as a child.
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